The second season of Loki already brought back most of the major players except for one. In the premiere episode of Season 2, viewers got to catch up with the God of Mischief and Mobius, but there was no sign of Ravonna Renslayer. Well, except for an audio recording where the TVA judge is having an intimate conversation with He Who Remains. Not surprisingly, this led to several theories about the connection between Renslayer and the Kang Variant in The Citadel at the End of Time.
But First … Who is Ravonna Renslayer?
Renslayer was first introduced in the first season of Loki as the judge who presides over Loki’s trial for his “crimes against the Sacred Timeline.” It is later revealed that she was the former Minuteman who captured Sylvie, but the latter escaped using Renslayer’s TemPad. Throughout Season 1, Renslayer appears unaware of He Who Remains, but that changed in the second season’s first episode.
This is absurd! 🌀 Catch up on the first episode of Marvel Studios' #Loki, now streaming on @DisneyPlus, and get ready for a new episode Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/C7buBscfwh
— Loki (@LokiOfficial) June 12, 2021
In the first episode of Season 2, Loki finds an audio recording of He Who Remains talking to Renslayer. Interestingly, their conversation strongly suggests that she has been helping him all along, which is odd considering the Renslayer from the first season seems unaware that he exists in the first place. So, what exactly is happening here? Here are some theories about the connection between the two.
Renslayer’s Romance with He Who Remains
The conversation between Ravonna Renslayer and He Who Remains has romantic connotations, which could mean she has been pretending not to know about him to protect him. By placing the Variant in The Void, where he lives in the Citadel at the End of Time, Renslayer is able to protect him from the other Variants and keep the TVA safe as well.
But why do that in the first place? There’s a possibility that someone is trying to kill He Who Remains (we’re looking at you, Sylvie), but sending that person to the Void would prove to be counterproductive to her plan. In that case, let’s look at the following theory.
Renslayer Can’t Remember He Who Remains
As it has already been confirmed, Ravonna Renslayer is not aware of the Variant in the Void. This makes sense since everyone working for the TVA has had their memories erased. But why was hers erased in the first place? He Who Remains might be trying to protect HER from her own memories.
It is believed that Renslayer found out about the Variant’s (or his other Variants) plan to take over the multiverse and disagreed with him. To prevent her from trying to stop him, her memories were erased, and she was placed in the TVA to keep her safe AND maintain the Sacred Timeline. However, this also raises more questions, considering she was very supportive of him in the audio recording, which leads to the third speculation.
Renslayer Wasn’t Talking to He Who Remains
There is a possibility that the recording was NOT the Variant that Sylvie killed in the first season finale. Instead, it could be Kang the Conqueror himself, and he has been keeping her in the TVA to protect the Sacred Timeline until he manages to conquer the multiverse.
These plausible theories would make sense if we knew more about Ravonna Renslayer and the Variant she was talking to in the audio recording. Unfortunately, the premiere episode hasn’t revealed everything we need to know just yet. Let’s just hope that the next episode will reveal more about Renslayer and the real reason why she left the TVA in the first place.
Loki Season 2 Episode 2 will premiere on Disney+ on October 12, 2023.
